


i will soften every edge

by ryseling



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Comfort No Hurt, Fluff, M/M, Tenderness, Thunder and Lightning, Thunderstorms, Valentine's Day Fluff, no beta we die like men, they love each other!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-22 15:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22718110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryseling/pseuds/ryseling
Summary: He jolted, panic surging up inside of him and his hands outstretching, scrambling, to summon his keyblade instinctively to his grasp, but not even a heartbeat later there was a warm hand on his shoulder and careful but sure fingers threading through the hair at the nape of his neck, gentling him.“It’s okay, Riku,” came the calming murmur, soft and soothing andSora. “We’re okay.”Thunderstorms don't make for the most comforting background noise after everything Riku has experienced, but luckily for him, Sora knows how to make it better.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 121





	i will soften every edge

**Author's Note:**

> wow, _me_ , posting two things on the same day?? absolutely unheard of
> 
> This was supposed to be a drabble, but I'm apparently incapable of writing anything shorter than 1k words, so here we are.
> 
> I'm still working out how to write these boys, so this first attempt might not be my best work, but I intend to get in lots more practice in the future~
> 
> Title from "Light" by Sleeping At Last.

Riku woke up to the sound of rain falling outside. The sound was familiar from years of living in Destiny Islands, where seasonal monsoons weren’t uncommon, so the moments that could have been minutes or hours that it took for him to actually recognize the sound felt more like a strange liminal space between slumber and wakefulness than true consciousness. He was only fully dragged from sleep when he heard the first booming roll of thunder crack overhead.

He jolted, panic surging up inside of him and his hands outstretching, scrambling, to summon his keyblade instinctively to his grasp, but not even a heartbeat later there was a warm hand on his shoulder and careful but sure fingers threading through the hair at the nape of his neck, gentling him.

“It’s okay, Riku,” came the calming murmur, soft and soothing and _Sora_. “We’re okay.”

It was warm, here, despite the hammering of the rain and the faint whistling of the wind that Riku could now faintly hear outside. He was laying down, he realized, half on top of his companion, head pillowed on a lean chest that shouldn’t have been as comfortable as it was. If he focused, he could hear the steady beating of a heart (one he knew to be kind and strong and full of light) beneath his ear, and he tried to concentrate on that, tried to will his own erratic pulse into a matching rhythm. Adrenaline still fizzled in his veins, spiking sharply when another thunderclap sounded, but the noise was more distant than he’d realized, at first, and the hand at the nape of his neck gave a slight squeeze that helped to ground him.

It felt a little funny, in an ironic sort of way; Riku could remember a time when he had been the one to comfort Sora through thunderstorms, back when he was young and Sora younger, when the storms would make everything outside of small spaces cocooned under covers seem insurmountable in its vastness. Those days were long passed, now, and both of them had much bigger things to be afraid of than thunder, but somehow this situation still left Riku trembling, still warranted a reversal of their old roles.

Sora had long since become strong enough to be Riku’s protector as much as Riku was his, anyway.

“The storm’s just passing over,” he went on - not quietly, even though the late hour meant his volume might disturb anyone in nearby rooms (if the storm hadn’t already), but that made it comforting in a way that only Sora could be. “It woke me up a little while ago, too. But don’t worry! Everything’s been fine, and I’m watching the door, too.”

Of course Sora had known what his mind had jumped to. Riku had become intimately acquainted with his own fight or flight response after spending so much time in the Realm of Darkness; there, it was always oppressively quiet, right up until it wasn’t, and he had to learn to act quickly when noise erupted around him or risk being overtaken by the darkness. And, even if thunderstorms _didn’t_ sound unnervingly similar to shifting, howling droves of Heartless, their racket made him anxious in other worlds, too, afraid that the booming crashes would drown out the approach of something bad, of something _worse_.

It might have been a bit disquieting, knowing that he had been the last to wake up from the thunder, considering all of that - but he was with Sora, and if there was anyone that he trusted to have his back if there was any _real_ danger, it was him.

“Sorry,” Riku rasped out, still fuzzy and disoriented by the dissonance between his drowsiness and his nerves, but endeavoring to distract himself by sifting through what he could remember from before he fell asleep. The details were difficult to grasp, sliding like smoke through his fingers, but, “You were telling a story.”

“ _Yes_ ,” Sora responded immediately, audibly pouting and thumping Riku lightly on the shoulder with one loose fist. “And you fell asleep right at the _best part_ , Riku!”

Riku huffed out a laugh, almost drowning out the sound of the sky’s rumbling outside. “Sorry, Sora,” he repeated, shifting until he could push himself up enough to look down at the shorter boy.

Sora looked soft and disheveled, cheeks still a little puffy from sleep, his eyelids low and heavy. His eyes were as bright as ever, though, glimmering sapphire-blue in the odd half-light of the room, and he stared up at Riku (definitely pouting) with a kind of focus that made Riku’s stomach flutter a bit. His hair was strewn out messily on the fluffy pillow beneath him, and a few strands had managed to get stuck on the corner of his mouth. Riku lifted one hand unthinkingly to brush them away, breath catching in his throat when Sora turned his head to all but nuzzle into Riku’s palm. 

“I _guess_ I could be convinced to forgive you,” the brunette mused, narrowing his eyes up at the other, even as he delicately pecked the inner curve of the pale wrist beside his face. He widened his eyes and tilted his head cutely, explaining earnestly, “You gotta give me a kiss, though.”

Riku snorted. “Is that so?”

Sora nodded enthusiastically - or as enthusiastically as he could, with his head still pressed back against a pillow. “It’s the only way I’ll ever recover!” he declared, pouting once more and making hopeful puppy dog eyes.

As if Riku really needed any convincing. He didn’t hesitate more than a moment before lowering himself down to connect their lips, warmth spreading through his chest at the way Sora gave a pleased hum and pressed up into the touch, one hand coming up to cradle Riku’s cheek while the other stayed tangled in silver hair. The kiss was sweet and unhurried and utterly indulgent, and even though both of their mouths were a little stale from sleep, the gentle way that Sora would lay kittenish licks against his lips and the soft sound he made when Riku nipped lightly at Sora’s lip in return made everything else fade away.

They only broke apart from each other when they were both short of breath, and only drew back far enough to rest their foreheads together, panting breaths fanning over one another’s skin. Riku only managed to drag his eyes open after several deep inhales, finding Sora gazing back at him with a smile on his face and affection etched into the crinkles around his eyes. The taller boy flushed faintly pink at the tender attention, and only grew pinker when Sora craned his neck to peck his cheek.

“ _Now_ you’re forgiven,” he proclaimed, easy and joking, tugging just a bit at Riku’s hair, and giggling when it made him shiver.

Riku opened his mouth to reply - intending to make some remark about melodramatics and bribing - but snapped his jaw shut again at the sound of another booming thunderclap. Sora’s hand in his hair went from tugging to petting, a quiet note of sympathy rising from the back of his throat, and Riku let himself be gently guided back down until he was resting his head on Sora’s chest again. His pulse was a little fast, and Riku managed a smile at the way the brunette’s chest rose and fell like he was still a little bit breathless.

Light briefly flooded into the room with a flash of lightning that accompanied another sky-splitting crash, and Riku breathed deep as he curled his arms around Sora, holding him close. “Tell me your story again?” he requested quietly. “I promise I won’t fall asleep, this time.”

Sora laughed, craning his neck to press a kiss to Riku’s forehead. “Okay!” he agreed readily, laying back again and squirming for a moment to get comfortable. Then, he launched into the tale with abandon: voice rising and falling with each new plot point, occasionally getting sidetracked by the minutia of details, gesticulating wildly with one hand, giggling through recounting the climax of the story, and humming tunes that Riku half recognized during the falling action. Sora kept drawing his fingers through Riku’s hair all the while, the repetitive motions soothing and the occasional gentle scrape of nails against his scalp slowly coaxing the tension from his muscles.

By the time Sora had finished the story, Riku could barely keep his eyes open, yawning what felt like every other breath and mind too fuzzy to hold onto thoughts. He felt Sora bring his free hand up to cradle the side of his face, and he let out a quiet breath, turning to press his nose into the warm, calloused palm.

Even nearly halfway asleep already, he could hear the smile in Sora’s voice. “Go to sleep, Riku,” he murmured, and a soft pressure against the top of his head told Riku a chaste kiss had been placed there. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Riku didn’t quite have the energy to reply, but he swore just before he slipped into sleep, he heard a whispered promise of “ _I love you_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! Or, if you prefer, come yell at me on [Tumblr!](https://ryseling.tumblr.com)
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed~


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